Tag: idaho republicans
Idaho Republicans Back Brazenly Anti-Semitic School Board Candidate

Idaho Republicans Back Brazenly Anti-Semitic School Board Candidate

Reprinted with permission from DailyKos

Most of us are old enough to remember when Republicans eager to court the evangelical Christian vote would recoil in (not entirely genuine) horror at any hint of antisemitism in any political candidate, particularly on a GOP slate. But for the new post-insurrection Trumpian Republican Party, it seems not only to be no problem, it's practically an asset.

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Idaho GOP Candidate Bundy Says 'Invasive Species' Is Attacking US

Idaho GOP Candidate Bundy Says 'Invasive Species' Is Attacking US


Idaho Republican gubernatorial candidate Ammon Bundy claimed America was under attack from an "invasive species" that must be destroyed in a video posted online a few weeks before he declared his candidacy over the weekend.

Bundy, a notorious anti-government militant, formally kicked off his gubernatorial campaign on Saturday, June 19. He joins seven other candidates who are already in the race, including Lieutenant Gov. Janice McGeachin, who has ties to the extremist Three Percenters militia group, members of which were arrested at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

Current governor Brad Little (R) has not announced his reelection plans for what is likely to continue to be a Republican-held seat.In a video streamed online May 27, Bundy walked through an apple orchard on his property and noted that the trees were infested with an invasive species.

"What's happening in my orchard is what's happening in our country, and if we don't get serious about destroying the invasive specie[s], it's already doing terrible damage to our orchard or to our country," said Bundy.While Bundy did not specify to what he was comparing the invasive species, he has a long history of criticizing the federal government for overreach and supposedly violating the Constitution — something he has described as "tyranny."



"We can not afford to have state leadership that lets the federal government bully us, or walk all over us," he wrote on his official campaign site. "... Because we know that the Federal Government under Joe Biden and the existing establishment will continue their onslaught against the people, and we simply can't afford to have leadership in our state back down, and comply with federal tyranny."

In the announcement for his gubernatorial campaign, Bundy accused President Joe Biden once again of being the puppet of a "Deep State" that "control[s] him."

Bundy has a long history of anti-government activity, including being involved in multiple standoffs, some of them armed.

In 2014, Bundy was a part of the standoff between the federal government and his father, rancher Cliven Bundy. The Bundy family claimed that the Bureau of Land Management did not have the right to stop them from grazing their cattle on publicly owned land without permit; the government, as a result, attempted to confiscate the cattle but were blocked by armed protesters and later charged Bundy and his father with conspiracy against the United States. Those charges against were later thrown out after a federal judge declared a mistrial, citing misconduct by the federal government.

In his gubernatorial campaign announcement, Bundy defended the 2014 standoff, describing it as "fighting back" against "federal tyranny."

In 2016, Bundy led an armed group of anti-government extremists who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. The standoff lasted for 40 days until Bundy and his allies were arrested. One of the men who helped Bundy to take over the facility, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, was shot and killed by federal authorities during the standoff. Bundy was later acquitted in a federal case stemming from the occupation.

Bundy has also protested several bills at the state level to implement COVID-19 safety measures. In August 2020, he was arrested for trespassing when he entered the Idaho State Capitol and refused to leave despite police orders. Bundy and others were there that day to protest legislation including a mask mandate, which was intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Bundy was removed from the building a second time, one day later, while strapped to an office chair, with police claiming he had been uncooperative.

After the incident he was barred from entering the Capitol for a year.

On his campaign site, Bundy denounced the state's handling of the pandemic, claiming Gov. Brad Little "took Idaho down a socialistic path, introducing over 25 executive orders with nearly every one of them having unconstitutional elements that violated peoples rights and destroyed people's lives."

"No Governor has the Constitutional authority to shut down businesses and prevent trade or commerce, nor to designate some businesses as essential while others are non-essential. It is simply unconstitutional," he wrote. "... I have been fighting against unconstitutional overreach since the beginning of this so called crisis ... This insanity has got to stop—but fortunately in Idaho, this insanity will never begin because I will not allow it."

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock

How That ‘Blue State Bailout’ Is Rescuing The Reddest States

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

Since May 10, the federal government has dispersed $105 billion of the $350 billion included in the American Rescue Plan to state and local governments. The Treasury Department says 1,500 entities have received that funding, the funding Sen. Mitch McConnell adamantly opposed for the entirety of the pandemic, calling it a "blue state bailout."

"This state and local aid program is going to provide transformative funding to communities across the country, and our Treasury team is focused on getting relief to these communities as quickly as possible," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement announcing the progress of the funding thus far. "In the past 11 days, almost a third of the funding has gone out the door, and I'm hopeful communities will be able to rehire teachers and help businesses re-open much sooner than otherwise."

Tens of thousands of state, local, territorial, and tribal governments can request funding. The Treasury Department details the uses of the relief: "Support urgent COVID-19 response efforts to continue to decrease spread of the virus and bring the pandemic under control; Replace lost revenue for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs; Support immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses; Address systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the inequal impact of the pandemic."

Let's check in on how that "blue state bailout" funding is going so far. Arkansas' Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has $1.57 billion for the state, and at the Arkansas American Rescue Plan Steering Committee Wednesday said that they could do a lot with it, from vaccine distribution to expanding broadband. "It is unique in history. It's a unique opportunity to improve the infrastructure in our state from broadband to health care to cybersecurity, from IT to water projects," Hutchinson said. Arkansas received a total of $5 billion, with the remaining $3.5 billion going to local governments and other projects.

"We need all the help we can get. It wasn't until vaccines rolled out that we rounded the corner. I think money allocated for vaccines, not just vaccines, but the education of the public about the safety of the vaccines, is essential to continuing to solve what has been a really long year-plus problem," Rogers, Arkansas Fire Chief Tom Jenkins, a COVID-19 response force member, said. The steering committee chair, Larry Walther, agreed: "COVID response, decreasing the spread of the virus, getting the pandemic under control, vaccinations, contact tracing, those sort of the things are the number one," Walther said.

This week, Muncie, Indiana, Mayor Dan Ridenour, a Republican, announced the city's preliminary plans for using the first tranche of the $32 million his city is getting. Just over $2.7 million will help the city overcome a budget shortfall; another $2 million will help the city's restaurants recover; $2 million each will help small businesses and nonprofit organizations; and over $4 million will go to hotels. There's also funding for substance abuse and behavioral health treatment, public art, and neighborhood assistance.

In another not-blue state, Iowa, "both the city of Des Moines and Polk County are receiving nearly $100 million in aid, the most of any Iowa city or county. Twelve Iowa cities are receiving aid, and all 99 counties are receiving at least $600,000." That means each county is getting about $200 per resident, based on 2019 census data. The state as a whole is getting $1.48 billion in American Rescue Plan money.

Idaho is going to get $1.1 billion, and state officials have said it will be used to "substantially bolster the state's water, sewer and broadband infrastructure." Alex Adams, Republican Gov. Brad Little's budget chief, touted the five-year window for completing projects with the funding. "That's a huge benefit for a rural state like ours where it's going to take years for some of these large sewer, water and broadband projects to come to fruition," Adams said. Idaho's largest cities in the state are getting a total of $124 million, smaller cities $108 million, and counties another $314 million.

McConnell's home state of Kentucky is getting $2.183 billion. "Our economy is surging and strong," Gov. Andy Beshear (a Democrat) said. "We are in a strong position to sprint out of this pandemic with continued positive economic indicators and with this funding that will create jobs, momentum and a better quality of life in every corner of the commonwealth." The state had already planned to use "use 1.3 million to boost the state's economy, expanding broadband, delivering clean drinking water and building new schools," and is "expected to create more than 14,500 new jobs." The state's general fund will be shored up.

The Tennessee Comptroller, Jason Mumpower, talked to one county's leaders this week to tout the projects available with the funding. "This could include helping workers, households, small businesses, nonprofits and impacted industries, such as tourism, travel and hospitality industry. Yes. You can use this money to make grants to individuals and small businesses," Mumpower said. "We look out across the landscape of Tennessee on a daily basis and think, 'Where does the greatest financial peril lie?' It lies in water and sewer. It lies underground," Mumpower told the Wilson county officials, who are expecting $28 million in relief funds.

All these Republican states getting all that funding passed solely by Democrats in the Senate, benefitting from the commitment to good governance -- and acting like they're goddamned adults like Democrats continue to model.

Idaho state Rep. Priscilla Giddings

Idaho GOP Lawmaker Urged To Resign After Doxxing Alleged Rape Victim

Reprinted with permission from American Independent

Idaho state Rep. Priscilla Giddings, a Republican, faced renewed calls to resign on Monday following her decision to out an alleged rape victim.

In a Facebook post, the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic violence urged supporters to "demand accountability from Rep. Giddings" and to "ask her to resign."

The call echoes a recent demand for an investigation by the Idaho House Ethics Committee into Giddings' actions by the Idaho 97 Project, a state group focused on countering disinformation and extremism.

In March, an intern for then-Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger (R) alleged that he raped her in his apartment after they went to a restaurant. Von Ehlinger denied the claim. After an ethics committee looked into the allegation and determined that Von Ehlinger had engaged in "behavior unbecoming" and recommended he be suspended without pay, he resigned from the Idaho Legislature.

Before that happened, in a "legislative update" to constituents, Giddings attacked the alleged victim.

"The allegations are straight out of the liberal play book; they are a blatant liberal smear job," Giddings wrote. She also complained that "House leadership is using taxpayer funds to publicly embarrass Rep von Ehlinger."

The representative accused Republican leadership of "jumping on the liberal band wagon and using the flimsiest of pretexts to smear one of their own."

Giddings described the alleged assault as a "honey trap" and proceeded to link to a far-right blog that published the woman's name and photo.

In an interview with the Associated Press published on Monday, the woman, who was identified as "Jane Doe," described the right-wing attacks as "overwhelming."

She mentioned a photo that has been posted on right-wing websites like the one Giddings linked to.

"You know that photo everyone is posting? I'm 12 years old in that photo. I'm not even a teenager in that photo, and they're sharing it calling me nasty," she said,

She added, "I respected them [Republican lawmakers in the state] enough not to keep it a secret and they destroyed me."

Another Republican member of the Idaho Legislature, state Rep. Heather Scott, filed a public record request with Boise, Idaho, looking for a copy of the police report from the incident.

"Scott approached Rep. Melissa Wintrow, a Democrat from Boise, to ask about how a person who files a false police report alleging sexual assault could be charged," the Associated Press reported.

At an April 28 hearing of the ethics committee when Doe testified about Von Ehlinger's alleged actions, Giddings reportedly "scoffed and laughed at times" according to an Associated Press report, including when Doe's attorneys said the abuse she had suffered might discourage other women from coming forward about sexual assault in the future.

Right-wing supporters of Von Ehlinger swarmed around Doe after she testified, attempting to capture her image on video and in photos. One woman told the Associated Press she heard Doe screaming in the hallway during the hostile encounter, which led to Doe's lawyers shielding her from public view with umbrellas.

Giddings has further connections to right-wing extremism.

On Saturday, Giddings addressed the group North Idaho Freedom Fighters, telling them, "Patriotism is the fire that will unite us as we continue this fight for freedom."

In January the same group organized a protest against the results of the 2020 presidential election where attendees claimed the election was "fraudulent" and used the slogan "stop the steal."

The Spokesman-Reviewreported that members of the group "cheered" the attack on the U.S. Capitol and an announcement that "they're taking the Capitol and taking out Pence."

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.